President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday afternoon, July 16th that Coca-Cola had agreed to use real cane sugar in soda drinks sold in the United States.
“I’ve been talking to Coca-Cola about using real cane sugar in American Cola, and they agreed to do so,” Trump wrote of the True Society. “I want to thank all those who have the authority of Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them – you’ll see. It’s just right!”
USA Today contacted Coca-Cola to confirm the president’s announcement. A spokesman for the company told Reuters that the Atlanta-based company would soon share details about the new product and appreciate Trump’s enthusiasm for its products.
Coca-Cola uses high fructose corn syrup to sweeten US products, while other countries use sugar cane sugar, Reuters reported.
The president’s announced switch comes as Trump continues to support health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to move away from certain food ingredients, such as artificial dyes. Through the Make America Healthy Again initiative, the Trump administration aims to stop the food industry from contributing to chronic health issues that Americans face from obesity to heart disease.
A May report by the MAHA committee held by Trump, tasked with identifying the root cause of chronic disease, said a significant consumption of high fructose corn syrup could play a role in childhood obesity and other conditions.
Medical experts recommend limiting sugar added to your diet, but have not identified any significant differences between cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
Corn producers, concentrated in the Midwest, have long had a major impact on Washington lawmakers. The Florida president’s hometown is the country’s top sugar cane producer.
“It’s pointless to replace fructose corn syrup with cane sugar,” said John Bord, president and CEO of the Corn Refiners Association. “Replacing high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar will cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, pushing farm revenue downwards and increasing imports of foreign sugars with no nutritional benefits.”
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Contribution: Reuters
